Saturday, December 25, 2010

THE WITCH-CULT IN WESTERN EUROPE

The chapter headings say it all: Admission Ceremonies, The Sabbath, The Esbat, The Rites, The Dances, The Music, The Feast, Candles, The Sacrament, Sacrifices, Magic Words, Rain-making, Fertility, The Covens, Duties, Discipline, The Familiars And Transformations, The Divining Familiar, The Domestic Familiar, Methods of obtaining Familiars, Transformations into Animals, Fairies and Witches, Some Notes on 'Flying' Ointments... This in-depth study of ancient European pagan religion is derived from examination of legal records of "Burning Times" trials, pamphlets giving accounts of individual witches, and the works of Inquisitors and other writers. In equal parts informative, disturbing and inspiring, The Witch-Cult In Western Europe forms the true Historical cornerstone upon which Gerald Gardner and others built the 20th Century Witchcraft revival.